The first file I handled when I entered the unit involved Guan Yuqian. He was the first overseas Chinese I met after I started working.
Let me start with a few words to give some background: In 1977, I entered the German Department of Beijing Foreign Studies University, where I studied for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Seven years passed by, and in January 1985, I entered the Ministry of Culture. In April of that year, the Chinese Writers Association will receive the first delegation of writers from Western countries after the Cultural Revolution—a delegation of West German writers. In fact, the entire delegation is composed of writers from West Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany aims to win China's recognition of West Berlin's political status through cultural contacts with China. Among the members of the group is Sinologist Gu Bin.
The Chinese Writers Association had just resumed work after the Cultural Revolution and lacked foreign affairs cadres, so it came to the Ministry of Culture to borrow translators. Candidates must possess two items: spoken German and Germanic literature. Knowledge of Chinese literature is only for reference.
Due to the "uselessness of studying" during the ten-year Cultural Revolution and the interruption of external exchanges, the old college students before the Cultural Revolution had not spoken German for ten years, so their spoken language must be rough and difficult to speak; the worker-peasant-soldier college students did not have a major in Germanic literature One thing to say. It happened that I had just come out of school. I had studied German for seven years, and my speaking skills were getting better. Beijing Foreign Studies University was leading in listening and speaking, and my major was Germanic literature. In addition, I loved Chinese literature, so I met the requirements of the Writers Association. I was fortunate enough to be selected to work with the Ministry of Culture. An old college student serves as the interpreter for a Chinese-German literature seminar.
I am different from the translator. I have fully retired from my original unit and assisted in the external relations department of the Writers Association, handling the schedule of taking over the delegation. At the same time, I started the Chinese Writers Group’s visit to West Germany in June of the same year. Regarding the return visit, I assisted in organizing a group to participate in the "West Berlin Horizon Art Festival" and visited several cities in the Federal Republic of Germany, including Hamburg.
In the arrangements for the visit to Hamburg, the name "Guan Yuqian" was mentioned in the letter from the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the other party. From the Cultural Revolution to the aftermath, Guan Yuqian has always been a sensitive figure.
I transferred the relevant files, and the key information is as follows: Guan once worked for the China Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and was engaged in external relations work. During the Cultural Revolution, he took advantage of his work to secretly steal the passports of members of the Japanese visiting delegation, and defrauded them to leave the customs. After escaping from China, he first went to Cairo and then to Paris?
The person in charge of the CPAFFC at that time was Liao Chengzhi. After this major foreign incident occurred - said to be the first since the founding of the People's Republic of China - Liao was severely criticized by the central government and ordered to handle the case satisfactorily. Liao immediately informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and authorized all embassies and consulates abroad to implement the central decision with full authority.
Liao Dawei was furious and said: I bear the huge responsibility, even if someone loses his life, it will be mine! The Chinese Embassy in Cairo went to the airport to intercept him but failed, and then notified the Embassy in Paris. However, it is said that Guan asked the French government for political asylum on the plane to Paris. France later moved to Hamburg according to Guan's own wishes (this transition period needs to be evaluated).
It is reported that after arriving in Hamburg, Guan suffered all the "human hardships", worked in all kinds of jobs, and even carried large bags at the dock. He practiced the unique Shanghainese spirit of perseverance, hard work, and resignation. character. In the early 1980s, taking advantage of China's reform and opening up, Guan wanted to return to China several times, but was refused a visa. He couldn't go to Bonn, nor could he go to the United States or Canada. It was said that without Liao's nod, this "defector" could never return to China.
Due to the needs of reform and opening up, policies have become looser. The default contact with Guan Yuqian is no longer monolithic, but it is not allowed to be too close or take the initiative.
In 1985, a large group of Chinese writers, with Wang Meng as the leader, Zhang Jie, Bei Dao, Shu Ting, Zhang Kangkang and other sixteen people arrived in Hamburg. Twenty years later, Guan thought It was an opportunity to get close to the Chinese people and get close to the motherland. Through the Hamburg Cultural Bureau, we sent an invitation to our writers group for a home visit, but we were rejected. That night, everyone was watching the fireworks on the high floor of the Hamburg Water Tower. Guan also came, but they didn't get close to each other. They looked at each other more than ten meters apart. The scene was very awkward.
The next year, Wang Meng became the Minister of Culture, but was re-elected as the Vice Chairman of the Writers' Association. Because he had been to West Germany, many congratulatory messages and letters from German friends were sent to the Writers' Association, one of which was from Guan. Our Writers Association External Relations Department handles ordinary letters from foreign guests. When we encounter special letters, we ask for instructions first out of respect.
Since literary exchanges between the four German-speaking countries are within my scope of responsibility, the Guan letter came to me first. I called for instructions and read the letter to Wang Meng. Wang Meng said, "Just deal with it." I can't remember the content of the letter clearly. I only remember that the letter was headed: Mr. Minister Wang Meng; the signature was: Xiaoguan is here. Well mannered.
From 1986 to 1987, the writers group Wang Yuanjian (author of the movies "The Party's Daughter" and "Sparkling Red Star"), Lu Yao and others, the poet Gong Liu Tuan and others When a group of writers came to Hamburg, Guan Jun never mentioned that he wanted to meet us. I wonder if it was because he was rejected the first time.
Until 1988, which was also my last two overseas trips before coming to Germany to study at my own expense, Malaqinfu and Deng Youmei were the heads of the delegation respectively, from Weixi, Wang Anyi, Mo Yan, Gao Xiaosheng, Lu Yan Zhou and other ten people attend the Chinese Culture Week in Hamburg each time. Liu Sola, Gao Xingjian, Ma Desheng and others who live overseas come from Paris or the Americas. Writers at home and abroad eat specially ordered Chinese food together in the hotel. This time Guan invited us again, and this time we agreed, but those overseas writers were not invited at the same time. Before going to his house, Captain Mara and I went to his office first. When entering, the group leader said that this was Professor Guan's official residence. Guan replied: Professor Professor, the more he teaches, the thinner he becomes.
Guan Jia prepared pasta for us, and the drinks were soft drinks such as juice. Seeing everyone coming, he said to me in Shanghainese: Hudu, Hadu, Hasha (there were so many people there, I was scared to death). I don’t speak Shanghainese well, but I can speak it and understand it without any problem. There were a lot of guests, both Chinese and foreign. I didn’t see my wife coming forward. She might be present, but I didn’t know her, so there was no formal introduction.
There lived a pair of foreign students, a middle-aged man and a Japanese woman, in Guan’s apartment building. They studied music. After dinner, Guan asked them to perform Guqin music for the guests, and also asked me to improvise the title of "Pingsha Luoyan". . Before saying goodbye, Guan asked the writers to leave messages in the family notebook. Gao Xiaosheng wrote: "Both are "Han"; Mo Yan's message: "Eat noodles and listen to the guqin" made everyone present laugh.
Guan's background was special, and the national conditions at that time were special. Although the Cultural Revolution was over , the political ideology of "taking class struggle as the key link" still exists, and everyone is extremely cautious when going abroad. It is too dangerous to deal with people like Guan without asking for permission in advance. In the 1980s, writers did not even watch a sex movie when going abroad. Dare, even though everyone wants to see it, everyone has a tacit understanding and keeps silent about it when they return home. They have calculated it in advance. If they are discovered, they will say that it was not intentional, but that they went into the wrong place. Who dares to leak the news, everyone will attack and defend the alliance. It was said that it was his suggestion.
The Guan Yuqian incident is a product of history. This kind of thing happens when it happens. It becomes a historical fact and is history itself. It cannot be circumvented and cannot be avoided. Being influenced by people's will.
In all the years that Guan has been abroad, we at the central government have never heard him say anything detrimental to the country, and he has not had any reactionary words or deeds, including in the first few years after arriving in the West. , different from individual exiles. It shows that his heart has always been in China. We, the generation after the Cultural Revolution, take political life very seriously.
Furthermore, the domestic attitude towards him and the situation. From a complete resistance at the beginning to getting closer and closer, until now he has become a famous figure in the country and a guest of the Chinese Writers Association. He was also a special invitee to the "International Symposium on Sinologist Literary Translation" organized by the Chinese Writers Association. Does this mean that he has settled his past in some way? Is it considered an official gesture?——His life abroad is beyond compare to ordinary people.
According to his own words, "If he had not escaped, China would have had another victim." If he had not left, he, an old rightist, had suffered another crime during the Cultural Revolution, and it was difficult to say that he could have saved his life. It has always been Guan's lingering worry. It can be seen that his writing style in the last ten and twenty years, sometimes deliberately exaggerating, sometimes deliberately overcorrecting patriotic gestures, all wanted to show the opposite side of that period of history in order to clear up the snow. The past. Whether it is truly completely liberated in the end is still a question mark.
In the past two days, I have been paying attention to and searching for official news, hoping to see a positive report, even a short piece of news. Two beautiful words in the article are enough. Even if the last page has been turned, the deceased can rest in peace. Here, let us wish him a relaxed mind and body and a good journey!
Perhaps I am ignorant, or perhaps I am in a foreign country and have cut off the "hotline". It seems that the author has never heard of some official statement about Guan before. , have not seen any written material in text form. Is it time to put a lid on his coffin?
The words I wrote today, which I had long wanted to write and should have written long ago, have been lingering in my mind for more than ten years. I started to write and then stopped writing several times. , thinking that after all, this is a pain point for people, a past event that people don’t want to look back on. If you write it too early, why should you suffer as a human being?
The last laugh is the best laugh. In the end, Guan Lao's life was full of pluses.
Revised Munich on October 31, 2021 (Original manuscript published on November 23, 2018)
Jin Tao, also known as Yougen, graduated from high school at Hangzhou Foreign Languages ??School in 1974 and settled in Zhejiang. From Ruqiao Village, Tonglu, he was admitted to the German Department of Beijing Foreign Studies University in 1977, and studied in German as a graduate student in Beijing Foreign Studies University in 1981. Joined the Ministry of Culture in January 1985, and the Chinese Writers Association in March 1985, serving in the External Relations Department of the Writers Association. He has participated in organizing groups such as Wang Meng, Zhang Jie, Mo Yan, Lu Yao, Lu Yanzhou, Gao Xiaosheng, Cong Weixi, Zhang Kangkang, and Gong Kang. Writers such as Liu, Zou Difan, Wang Anyi, Bei Dao, and Shu Ting also visited Germany and other European countries with the delegation. In the late 1980s, he received visiting scholar scholarships from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Ministry of Culture of Bavaria and the European Translation Center to study for a PhD at the University of Munich. Currently living in Munich;
His main texts and translations include: the novels "The Madman's Defence", "Perfume", "Hell Marriage", and in 2013 he edited and published the German version of a collection of contemporary Chinese short stories and short stories "Empty" "Window" was published by Spielberg Publishing House in Germany and distributed simultaneously in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The book is 350,000 words long, with 504 pages in wide format. The twelve writers and works included are: Chen Ran's "Empty Window", Chen Jiangong's "Looking for Fun", and Dongxi's "Life without Language" wait. In July 2021, Dongxi's novel "Regrets" was translated and published by the same German publishing house;
Published translations and works in the 1980s: "World Literature", "Foreign Literature", "Poetry Magazine" , "Yangtze River Literature and Art", "Zhongshan", "Baihuazhou", "Literary News", "China Women's News", etc., have published translations of the works of more than 20 German writers;
Come to Desan Twelve years, twenty-two years of starting a business in Germany, and thirty years of literary creation and translation. Three years ago, Jinpen washed his hands and returned to literature, writing and translating more than 900,000 words of new works. So far, he has been writing continuously;
In the past few years, his writings have been scattered in major Chinese newspapers and periodicals in Europe; "European News", "European Chinese Herald", "German Chinese Business News", "Los Angeles Novel News", etc.
01· "The Holy Girl" (Novel) (Guangxi Literature, Issue 7, 2019);
02· "Paul Celan's Xingren Poetry Translation and Postscript" (Southern China Literature, November 2019 issue);
03· "Painful Memory of the Road" (Three Gorges Literature, December 2019 issue);
04· "The Long Road to the World" ——The German version of "Empty Window" has gone through a long and winding journey (Southern Literature, Issue 1, 2020);
05· "Perfume and Our Eighties" (Southern Literature, 2020 (Issue 5, 2020);
06· "Neighbor Lu You" (People's Daily Overseas Edition, Tianjin Literature, Issue 11, 2020);
07· "Mo Yan's Past" (Beijing) Literature, Issue 12, 2020);
08· "Wang Yuanhua in Memory" (China News Weekly, December 2020 issue);
09· "As Mo Yan—— —Time and space span thirty years" (China News Weekly, December 2020 issue);
10· "Two Compatriots" (China Rule of Law Weekend, January 2021 issue);
11· "The Long Tail in Winter" (novel) (Xiangdu Literature, Human Stories, January 2021 issue);
12· "Kun and I" (China News Weekly, February 2021 issue);
13· "Glass and his last poem" (China Rule of Law Weekend, February 2021);
14· "Old Huang" (novel, Hezhou Literature and Art, 2021 first issue);
15· "Second Uncles Divide the Melon" (novel, Hezhou Literature and Art, 2021 first issue);
16· "The Birthday of Sinologist Kuhn 137th Anniversary, Recalling a Relationship with His Posthumous Works" (China Rule of Law Weekend, March 2021);
17. "Spring Breeze Ten Miles of Fresh Shepherd's Purse" (Essays, Love, Marriage, Family) Issue 4, 2021 ;
18. "Deutsche Thinking" (China News Weekly, April 2021 issue);
19. "Remembering Schwartz" (China News Weekly, May 2021 issue) ;
20. "I Entered the Writers Association by Mistaken Chance" (Southern Literature, Issue 3, 2021, bimonthly);
21. "Years" novella (Sichuan Literature , Issue 7, 2021);
22. "My Fate with Perfume" Prose (Western Literature, Issue 5, Bimonthly, October 2021);
23. "Little Man" "Man" Translated novel, Germany: von Schirach (Western Literature, Issue 6, Bimonthly, October 2021);
24. "Friends" Translated novel, Germany: von Schirach (Western Literature) Literature, bimonthly issue No. 6, October 2021) etc.
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